Doctor admits paying to view child sex abuse
- Published
A former doctor has admitted paying a foreign woman to show him the private parts of young girls online.
Kieran Titheridge, of Arbroath, was also caught with 366 indecent images of children and two videos at his flat in Aberdeen.
The 34-year-old was working as a trainee at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary at the time.
Titheridge will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on 25 February.
Police launched an investigation in November 2013 after they were informed Titheridge had made four payments through online service PayPal to an account registered abroad.
Officers carried out a search of his Arbroath home and his flat in Aberdeen's Union Grove, where he lived alone while working in the geriatrics department of the city's hospital.
Laptops seized from both addresses yielded a total of 366 indecent images of children and two videos.
Online conversations
Text conversations conducted over video chat service Skype revealed that the doctor had engaged in several dialogues with a woman in October 2012 after asking if she could provide him with "naked young girls".
The woman offered girls of various ages from seven upwards during their online chats, and on one occasion Titheridge asked to see a 14-year-old child.
He sent one payment of $30, and three further payments of £10 for sexual services involving children.
The woman informed Titheridge on one occasion that the children were sleeping so she could not provide the service. He got in touch with her again later, asking: "Are the young girls awake?"
Titheridge had been set to go on trial for possessing indecent photos and videos and intentionally obtaining the sexual services of a child or children.
He pleaded guilty to two offences before the case called at the High Court in Aberdeen, and will now be sentenced in Edinburgh next month.
Lord Kinclaven requested background reports, saying Titheridge had been convicted of "serious offences against children", and remanded him in custody.
NHS Grampian declined to comment on the case. Titheridge is no longer working at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, having left his job in 2013.